NATIONAL BRIEFS

CONNECTICUT: Republican concedes guv race

Republican Tom Foley conceded the governor race to Democrat Dan Malloy on Monday despite calls by the state GOP for investigations into voting irregularities. Foley, a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, said photocopied ballots used in Bridgeport and six other municipalities amid a ballot shortage were unusual, but they represented the good-faith efforts of people to cast their votes last week. Foley congratulated Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford.

MINNESOTA: 29 indicted in sex ring

Twenty-nine people have been indicted in a sex trafficking ring in which Somali gangs in Minneapolis and St. Paul allegedly forced girls into prostitution in Minnesota, Tennessee and Ohio, according to an indictment unsealed Monday in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Tennessee. The 24-count indictment said one of the gangs' goals was recruiting Somali or African American females, including some under age 14, and forcing them into prostitution so the defendants could get money, marijuana or liquor.

WYOMING: A tree for the Capitol

The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is a secret no more. The 67-foot Engelmann spruce was cut down and loaded onto a flatbed trailer in western Wyoming. Next up: a tour of Wyoming that begins Wednesday, followed by a cross-country trip to Washington. A small crowd watched the tree being cut down in Bridger-Teton National Forest. By nightfall Saturday, the tree had been taken to Jackson, where hundreds turned out to see the stately pine. Wyoming residents have donated more than 5,000 ornaments to decorate the tree.